This invention relates to water beds, and more particularly to an improved framework for supporting the periphery of a water-filled bladder which provides fluid support for the user of the bed.
Previous water beds have had a number of disadvantages which have hindered water beds from breaking into the conventional bed market. One disadvantage of previous water beds is their use of a solid peripheral support frame which completely confines the water-filled bladder. The solid support is discomforting to one sitting on the bedside, and a nuisance to one who climbs in or out of bed.
It is also difficult to make up bedding on a water bed confined by a solid frame. The sheets, blankets and bedspread must be tucked between the heavy water-filled bladder and the rigid frame. Usually the bedding becomes loosened or undone, because the top outer edge of the bladder pulls in from the support frame when pressure is exerted on the bed, thereby releasing the bedding from its support around the bed.
Moreover, standard bedding such as fitted sheets cannot be used easily on conventional water beds because of the confinement of the bladder completely within its support frame.
Another disadvantage of using a conventional water-filled bladder is that the user often experiences uncomfortable bottoming out; the water-filled bladder often is subject to transverse wave action or sloshing which can be a disturbance to the user; and the bladder is subject to pulling in at the edges when the user enters the bed, which is an inherently unstable supporting surface in addition to causing bedclothes to come loose around the bladder.
Further, many water beds of conventional construction are relatively expensive, heavy, cumbersome, and not easy to assemble.